kalani depradine

Mr. Lee had accepted Grayson's offer which meant the ball was rolling with Astor Incorporations in Shanghai. I was happy for Grayson because I know how important his work life is for him. Mr. Lee had flown from China to New York City to shake on the deal as well as sign necessary papers. He wanted to do it over dinner and asked Grayson that I be there because his wife was also going to be there.

I had dropped Amelia off at my parents' house before meeting Grayson at his office. He was working late and wanted me to just come to the office so we could go to the restaurant together. Despite rarely coming to the office, the receptionist still smiled and greeted me. The security was extra friendly and I found it odd considering Grayson and I have yet to announce our engagement, so it's not like they know I'll soon be married to him.

The man in the elevator pressed the button for me and I found this ride to be the perfect opportunity for me to ask why everyone is so nice.

"You are...extra beautiful today, Miss. Depradine," he pointed out in the most polite and appropriate way he could. His cheeks went red and his eyes stayed on the ground. I hadn't realized everyone here has only seen me when I was pregnant.

"Oh," I looked at my reflection in the elevator mirror. My dress wasn't anything special, it was a brown slip dress. My hair was in its usual slick low bun. The gold jewelry nicely contrasted with my skin, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But I would take the compliment. "Thanks," I shrugged as I left the elevator. The click of my heels followed me as I walked to Grayson's office. His door was half open and I could already hear him yelling on the phone.

"He's in a mood today," Tracey whispered from her desk. I smiled because his mood swings is something he'll have to work on.

I slipped into his office, seeing him standing facing out the window. I wasn't sure who he was yelling at. But the words he used indicated it must've been his brother.

"Whatever, Matthew. I don't have fucking time for this. It was supposed to be a surprise and now you're ruining it," Grayson hung up the phone with a groan.

"What are we upset with him about this time?" I asked and Grayson turned around to look at me in awe. Grayson is a man with high standards in every department of life and knowing how attracted he is to me makes my stomach bunch into a knot. Even when his face doesn't want to reveal all his words, his eyes do everything they can to tell meI'm beautiful.

"I asked him to do me a simple favour and he fucked it up for me," he shook his head.

"Well, were you being rude when you asked for the favour? Because by now you must know that's not how it works," I set my handbag on his desk while I approached him. Fixing his lapels, I brushed lint off his shoulder. I loved how even with my heels, I was forced to bend my neck to look up at him.

"Not necessarily," he answered truthfully. Grayson seems to think just because he isn't yelling, it means he's not being rude. "You look stunning to say the least," he squeezed my waist as his lips touched my neck. Biting my lip, I tilted my head to give him more access. He gradually pushed me over to his desk.

"Gray, I don't think we have time for this." My words said one thing while my body said a complete other. It's hard to resist him because he's everything my dreams have ever fixated on. When I first told him I was pregnant, I never would've imagined he'd turn into the man he is right now.

"There's always time."

"Your assistant is right outside," I muttered as I began to unbuckle his belt.

"I pay her to keep her mouth shut," he turned me around, my hands now resting on the desk.

He pulled my dress up, letting out a satisfied hum when he saw my thong. I wore it just for him with the intentions of him wanting to take full advantage of us being away from Amelia and of me in a dress. His fingers went between the string of my thong, swiping along my wetness.

"Always so fucking wet for me," he spoke under his breath. I reached behind, stroking him through his dress pants while he searched his wallet for a condom. "We're going to need to fix this," he removed the wrapper when my hand reached into his pants to feel how warm and hard he was. I knew he hated using a condom. If I trusted his pull out game, I would let him fuck me raw. But for now, an IUD would quickly solve this problem.

"I have an appointment in two weeks." He thrusted into me as I gripped the closest thing I could get my hands on which happened to be his keyboard. "Fuck," my hips dug into the edge of the desk when his thrusts grew harder. Keeping one hand on my waist, he used his other to cover my mouth.

Everything was fast paced and hard. My legs felt like any moment now they would give out on me. His lips went to my ear for him to whisper, "you make me feel so fucking good, Lani." It wasn't his usual choice of words and I was happy he said them because it made me shatter at his last thrust. He removed his hand, leaving me panting for air and my legs shaking. He pulled out, throwing his condom in the trash under his desk.

"I'm going to need a second," I took a deep breath as he fixed his pants and did up his belt. Standing fully on my feet, I adjusted my underwear and dress before grabbing my bag. Tracey was at her desk, pretending like she hadn't heard anything. We stood in the elevator and Grayson looked down at me as he fixed my hair. He made sure there wasn't a hair out of place.

"Perfect," he whispered as he placed a soft kiss on my forehead. My smile was making an annoying appearance while I hugged him and felt his arms go around me.

The restaurant where we were meeting Mr. Lee was extravagant. It had a live performance with classical music. I didn't even know the city had such nice restaurants. The menu was small and I didn't recognize anything listed.

"You must be Kalani. I'm Daniel Lee. This is my wife, Elvira Lee," the man approached our table and he looked like the friendliest man. He had the biggest smile on his face and I couldn't believe he was a business man. Him and his wife were both small and petite, both being around my height. He was an older gentleman with creases on his face and a hunchback.

"Yes, it's so nice to meet you," I stood up and he immediately hugged me. His wife did the same and it was a nice change from the other business people I've met through Grayson.

"Daniel mentioned you had your baby. There's no trace you were ever even pregnant," Elvira commented and I smiled, going back to my seat.

"That's really sweet. Thank you," I opened up the menu, leaning close to Grayson to whisper, "I have no idea what any of this shit is. Send help." He hid back his smile. All the words on this menu felt like they weren't English. They seemed somewhere between French and gibberish.

"You'll like this," he kept his voice quiet while pointing to something on the menu. The waitress came and Grayson ordered my food and I was happy he did because I couldn't have said it as perfectly as he did.

"So, how is the baby? We have five, so we know exactly how it is," Daniel started off the conversation and it was weird it didn't strictly revolve around work.

"She's good. She's actually really good. She sleeps through the night and isn't fussy." I missed her just thinking about her. Not being with her is rare for me. The only time we're usually apart is when she's asleep, so her not even being in the same building as me felt weird.

"Do you have pictures?" Elvira cheered and I've never taken my phone from my bag so fast. I wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity to show off Amelia. She is my prized possession. "Oh my, isn't she the cutest. Her eyes."

"Yeah, I could stare at them for hours," I set my phone back in my handbag. "Tell me about your kids." Once she started she couldn't stop. I was honestly worried Grayson's kind act would fade away, but he did a good job at pretending he cared. I guess it's because this revolved around work.

"I'm looking forward to establishing Astor Incorporations in Shanghai. I know it'll benefit the both of us. Your assistant sent me the papers," Grayson pulled out papers rolled and tucked away in his suit. It was thick and must've been ten pages long. Of course Grayson was in a hurry to get down to the nitty gritty of things.

"I have no doubt in my mind you'll make me a lot of money, Astor," Daniel smirked, bringing out a pen. It seems like we were jumping straight into business and our dinner hadn't even arrived yet. I know Grayson must've spent the entire day reading through the contract with a lawyer, making sure he would be getting everything he wanted from the agreement. Grayson has never been one to just sign without fully reading every line.

"When should we be expecting the wedding?" Elvira leaned across the table to quietly ask me.

"We haven't started planning much. We were waiting for the baby to get here. But now that she's born, we're going to start setting aside time to plan," I explained. If it were up to me, I would be fully satisfied with a courthouse wedding. It would require little to no effort and despite money not being a problem, we wouldn't need to spend much money. But my mother would have a heart attack if I didn't have a big wedding.

"You don't have a ring?" Her eyes went to my finger. It did seem odd that I didn't have a ring. But the problem also never crossed my mind because everything between us has been far from traditional.

"I'm working on it," Grayson flipped through the papers for him and Daniel to both sign. I couldn't help but stare at Grayson in awe.

A ring is unnecessary and I worried Grayson may overlook it. But even if a wedding and marriage is never something Grayson used to want, it's happening and I would hope he would at least pretend to make it special for me. It'll be my one and only wedding and I would be a fool not to make the most of it. I really couldn't believe Grayson was working on getting me a ring.

"Any date and I assure you we'll be there," Elvira gave me a genuine smile. Having them there meant not having a small wedding. But I know Grayson would like to use this wedding to his advantage by using it as a networking event. He would be killing two birds with one stone.

"You will be the first to receive an invite," I assured her.

Our food arrived and our conversation transitioned to other topics. Despite being billionaires, they were far from intimidating and easy to speak with. I hoped Grayson learned a few things from them about being humble.

"They're so normal. His wife was so kind," I gushed while Grayson and I got into his car. The corners of his lips lifted and I knew it was the closest I would get to a smile.

"I don't know how I would've survived that dinner without you. She talks a lot," his hand ran up and down my thigh for him to squeeze. We were on our way to pick Amelia up from my parents house and I couldn't wait to see her again.

"I talk a lot," I muttered quietly.

"But I like you," he blandly stated.

"Are you really getting me a ring?" I held his arm as I leaned close. I kissed his neck, innocently distracting him from the road.

"Of course I'm getting you a ring, sweetheart. What kind of man would I be if I didn't make sure every man in this world knew you belonged to me," he stopped the car when we arrived at my parents house. My hand went to his inner thigh when his lips met mine. My hand trailed up, feeling his erection grow underneath his pants. "Don't start something you can't finish, Lani," he groaned as he bit my lower lip.

I pulled away, catching my breath for me to get out of the car. Adjusting his pants, Grayson sighed as he walked to the front door with me. I knocked on the door and I was growing more and more impatient by the second.

"She's sleeping," my mother opened the door for us to come inside. Grayson walked away, going straight upstairs to the bedroom she was staying in.

"How was she?" I asked, wanting to know every detail about her. My mother was understanding and went on to tell me about everything she did before going to bed. Considering there's not much a four month old baby can do, the list was short. Grayson came back down the stairs with Amelia in one hand and the baby bag in the other.

"Thank you," Grayson gave a curt nod on his way out the front door.

"I don't know how you do it," my mother laughed and I hugged her, kissing her cheek before I left.

"You're okay, angel," Grayson whispered when she started waking up as he carefully put her in the car seat. "Good girl," he kissed her forehead and quietly shut the door behind him.

When we got home, it surprised me how quick Grayson was to take Amelia from the car and put her to sleep. Normally, I'm the one to do it and it gave me time to peacefully remove my makeup and prepare for bed. By the time he was done finishing up with Amelia, I was already fully tucked away in our bed.

"Thanks," I thanked Grayson when he entered the bedroom.

"Mhm," he went to his closet to change. My eyes stayed fixated on the door as Grayson left in nothing but his boxer briefs.

Moving in with him was weird because I got to see this entire new side of Grayson. I got to see the side that doesn't walk around his home in a suit, but instead wears grey sweatpants and takes the opportunity to be shirtless anytime he can. When he's not working, he spends his time in his backyard swimming laps in his pool, or playing chess with himself. He reads non-fiction books in his spare time and quietly sings to Amelia when he thinks I'm not around. He has this whole other side to him he's never allowed anyone to see. But he's let me inside to see the man he really is.

"I know Lee only accepted my offer because he values family. You're the only reason he accepted my offer," he faced me in bed. It takes a lot for him to give credit where it's due and him sharing the credit of his business deal with me meant a lot. I worried I wouldn't be able to be the wife he wanted from me. But it seemed we were already making an unstoppable duo.

"It was all you," I insisted.

"You attending this dinner with me really meant a lot to me. You've been really supportive with work and I appreciate it because none of this would've been possible without you," Grayson pulled me into his chest. He engulfed me in this hug, making me feel safe and cared for. He fixed the bonnet on my head, softly kissing my lips. I smiled into the kiss, feeling like I must be floating because Grayson's words felt like a dream. "I'm happy you're in my life. I can't imagine anyone else being my life partner."

"Really?" My voice cracked from my shock. Grayson could be with any other woman and he was choosing me.

"Really," his hand went under my shirt, rubbing my back to comfort me. "There's a charity event in two weeks. I attend it every year and it's normally alone. I want you to come with me. We can make our engagement official and announce when we'll have our engagement party and wedding." I know attending this event together would be a big deal for Grayson. These events attract a lot of attention and are talked about for weeks after. Him wanting to bring me as his date meant he had no intentions of backing out and he planned on being serious about our relationship.

"Okay."